Its an original SSP-800 Surround Sound Processor bought on ebay (2nd hand from Spain) just before Brexit. Very temperamental and blows fuses ‘at the drop of a hat’. But for my viewing (5.1 audio sourced by Sky Q) its fine. As well as the five channel Chord power amp, there is a ceiling mounted projector and two re-paneled electrostatic Martin Logan SL3’s speakers as surrounds. We are not talking dCS/Trinnov here !!!
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Nice woodworking Brian! How are the new monoblocks compared to the stereo amp?
I’m extremely happy with the new (to me) power amps. These Ultima 2’s (750 RMS each) do get much warmer than their predecessors (480W RMS each), although still class A/B. I’m afraid it is the law of diminishing returns because this Mono Bloc upgrade is less dramatic then the previous upgrade from a Chord Stereo amp to Chord Mono Blocs. The Rossini and Clock are still outstandingly good and hopefully my Martin Logan Electrostatics have plenty of life before the dreaded re-panel is required. . . .
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Hello Brian
I am new to dCS and read about your fuses blowing on the Classe. I had a similar amp issue with McIntosh mono blocks with using a P20 conditioner that also brought in ac noise. I was introduced to the Shunyata Everest X conditioner and this product is differently engineered that it not only stoped tripping off the amp, but took away all the ac buz and noise in system ! This product does not use large capacitors and a huge transformer like the extra large PS Audio’s P20, but rather a patented design not ever seen before. This cleaned up my sound stage, like never before or I could say similar to when I changed my old DAC to the dCS Vivaldi Apex, it was an amazing change that hearing is believing it could happen. Check out the Shunyata web site to see what this product has done for the audio and medical industry.
Regards, Brian
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Welcome to the forum Brian! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
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That you so much for your suggestion and experience with Shunyata. Like you I am a great Shunyata supporter with all my primary power cables being Shunyata Alpha. I also have a Shunyata Venom 6 way power distributor for my C14 connected Chord Pre-amp and dCS Rossini and Clock. My C19 connected Mono blocs are straight to the same audio ring main which was wired,many years ago - with Kimber muliti-stranded cable on a separate consumer unit. But yes, a Shunyata Everest power conditioner is very high up on my list and its great to read about your positive experience.
I do think the problem with the Classe is the power supply (probable capacitors) as the device is about 14 years old. I am about to send it away to the one and only Classe UK service centre for inspection.
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Hi Brian,
I should have known you already use the Shunyata equipment. When you step up to this higher level of gear ( limitless ) it reveals the ever expanding amount of detail. I work with a great friend and dealer in Canada, Adrian Low at Audio Excellence in Toronto. I ordered the Sonus Faber Aida speakers, even though his sound rooms also showcase his favorite Wilson Audio line. I have been an ever growing audiophile since 1970 and my main start was with the first pair of B&W 801 speakers and Lynn LP12 table with both in rosewood in 1982 and it has never stopped.
When you truly believe the sound stage of music can change for the better. You can hear it almost every time. The Shunyata Everest X was not a product I thought could be that dramatic to my system and yet it was !
Thank you for sharing your story as this is enjoyable to hear.
Sincerely,
Brian
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SF Aida’s are a fabulous speaker, and good looking too!
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Hi. My name is Claudio from Rome, Italy. I hope you like my listening room.
Varese full system with transport;
Wilson Chronosonic loudspeakers and Subsonic subwoofers;
Pass Labs Xs 300 class-A amplifiers for the main speakers;
Pass Labs X600.8 class AB for subwoofers;
Transparent Magnum Opus interconnect ans speaker cables for main speakers (Opus for subwoofers);
Shunyata Omega X QR power cables for all amplifiers. Shunyata Pyton for the Varese; 2 Shunyata Hydra power conditioners (not for amplifiers, only for Varese)
Listening room designed and built by engineer Davide Squarciapino.
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Hello Claudio. Welcome to the community.
You have made a spectacular entrance!
Fantastic system and listening room. Congratulations.
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Claudio, That is an amazing array of gear you have pulled together. Congratulations and Welcome.
What’s not to like. Fantastic set up.
Welcome to the forum Claudio. What a great system. And to top it off the last bit of information is especially fantastic.
It must be amazing. If you could tell us more about the room and the things that were done, that would be great. I will have the opportunity of a dedicated room soon, and will be thinking about things to do acoustically to improve it.
Buongiorno Claudio da Pistoia e New York.
Bellissima sistema!
Sono stato a Roma da Igor Fiorini per fare una demo di Stenheim (però stanno nella mia sistema a NY)
Ciao
Gregg
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Thanks August and the other guys for your nice words.
I am obviously very proud of the set up, which i built progressively since the year 2000. I have lived in France, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia and finally my homeland Italy over these 25 years, and the gears have always travelled with me - and kept growing.
The listening room was built in 2003. I am not sure I can describe how it was built. The engineer used unknown (to me) materials, he built a room inside the room with several layers of these special materials, and the (very thick) door and windows are special acoustic ones from local Italian suppliers. He once said that “even the screws we used are special ones”. I know that the various panels on the walls and the ceiling are from a UK producer called RPG. As you can see there is very little I can say unfortunately, also because during the construction I was not in Italy yet.
The room is quite big (9 meters x 5 meters, 3 meters high) and as you see I like to position the speakers along the long side, which gives a great soundstage (the millimetrical precision of the Wilson Chronosonic speakers also helps with that) - but I know that many disagree withb this positioning.
As you can imagine the sound is fantastic and I enjoy it every day.
Thanks guys again for your nice comments.
Claudio
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Beautiful system. Try moving the sub towers to be aligned next to the XVX. It should improve the bass.
Thanks Leenfor the suggestion. Will try.
Claudio
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You are most welcome.
Wow! What a setup. At first, I thought it was a display at the recently concluded High End Show, lol. Congratulations.
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Very nice! 
I’ve seen some truly impressive spaces designed and measured by Davide. I would not recommend randomly moving your speakers/subwoofers around if they’ve been properly measured and placed by Davide.
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